How time flies

A year ago today I was setting off on an adventure of a lifetime. I had no idea at the time that I would look back on all my experiences in Europe with such longing to relive each and every one of those precious moments...

It's hard to believe how much has happened since January 23, 2011. Not only did I have the opportunity to visit several countries, study at a foreign university and live with an amazing host family, but I met a group of people who will be life long friends from all over the United States. I wish I could say that I still keep in touch with every single one of my API Barca group, but unfortunately that isn't the case. I have tried to stay in touch with the ones that made the biggest impressions on me, and I do my best to have weekly catch up with a close few. There's nothing I would enjoy more than to have a reunion with every one, but I realize how difficult that would be since we are all being taken in different directions.

As much as I would love to go back to Europe and continue exploring, I have to realize that it will never feel like it did during those four months because I won't be with the same group of friends that I shared so many incredible memories with. That's not to say I wouldn't still have a blast, but it would be a completely different feeling than the one I experienced last year.

I will never forget the amazing time I had in beautiful Barcelona <3

Memories

It's been almost a month since my Barcelona adventure ended, yet it still feels like just yesterday I was living with my host family and experiencing so many amazing things. Adjusting back to my old life has definitely been eye opening and difficult. I think I assumed I would come home and just naturally fall back into the same rhythm I was in when I left, but I've figured out that I can't because I'm not the same person I was when I left. I don't mean to say that I'm a completely different person because that wouldn't be true, but like I said in my coming home entry, I have changed because of my experiences and those changes have made readjusting to life back in Texas a little more complex.

Last week I started my job at the Animal Defense League where I was an intern last summer. This summer I am actually being paid and have a Monday thru Friday schedule, which makes me feel like an adult (a feeling that I'm not sure I love just yet). It has helped me get back into a routine, something I think I've been lacking for awhile now, which has made it all the more difficult to adjust back. Getting back into a routine has definitely made me feel like I'm slowly getting back to myself, but sometimes at the most random times, I'll stop and wonder if I really want to get back to my old self. It's not that I don't like my old self, it's just that I feel like if I go back I'll forget everything that's happened to me and all the lessons I've learned. I realize that's impractical because there is NO way I could ever forget the memories I've made or the experiences I've had, but I think I realize that the more I readjust to being back home the more my experiences will just be memories that I can think about once in awhile, as all experiences become. I'm just not ready to let that happen yet. I still want, need, time to remember every part of the past four months and how I felt during each experience before I allow myself to be consumed once again with school, activities and life here in Texas.

One of the most important things in life in my opinion are memories, and I don't think I've ever made so many incredible ones as I did in the past four months. There's a quote that I really feel explains this:

"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."

My trip and who I am because of it are things I never want to lose!

xoxo

Texas, how I have missed you!

I returned home to the great state of Texas on Saturday night pretty late. I won't lie, it was an EXTREMELY long day, 19 hours worth of traveling, and I couldn't have been more excited to see my family!

You're probably wondering why it took me five days to get to writing this blog. Well the thing is I've been trying to get back to a normal sleep schedule, which as of right now has me falling asleep way to early and then waking up way to early, so I've been trying to get as much done as possible during the day and thus have had little time to sit down and write out what has been going on. I still have quite a bit to get accomplished including getting a new license (since I lost mine in Spain) and figuring out what I am going to be doing this summer work wise. I'm trying to get as much done as possible right now, but still fighting an overwhelming sleepiness as well as wanting to see everyone who I haven't seen for four months!

I won't lie, it has been pretty strange being back home again, but I realize that's inevitable. I went from seeing the same faces and places pretty much everyday for four months to not seeing them at all in the course of a day and it will take me a little bit of time to come to terms with that. I definitely miss Spain and most of the people that were there with me, but I also realize that my time was up there and that I have to continue with my life here, my real life. It's almost like my life in Spain was a different one because I didn't have the same responsibilities up there and it felt more like an extended vacation than a semester of studying abroad. Now I'm back to my real life, where I have responsibilities and things that need to be accomplished in order to start the next chapter of my life. Maybe that is why I miss Spain the way I do, because now I have to go back to my hectic schedule and the realization that graduation is just around the corner :(

I took some time since I've been home to think about what this trip meant to me and just how much I grew. After doing this semester abroad and traveling as much as I have, I realize that I can do anything if I put my mind to it! At the beginning of my journey to Spain I really thought that there was no way I could muster up the courage to complete the experience because I believed I wasn't ready, but the truth is, I was! Even though change is difficult and hard to deal with, it is inevitable and learning how to move past the difficulties has taught me that I can really do anything. I took myself completely out of my comfort zone, something that I NEVER thought I would be able to do, and proved to myself that I can survive and even have an amazing time, which is another thing I never thought would happen. It may sound weird, but I am truly proud of myself for sticking it out those first few weeks and letting my guard down because I had an amazing time these last four months and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

Another thing that I have learned about myself over these past few months is that I can make it on my own. Even though I've been at college for almost three years now, I still rely so much on my family and come home at least once a month. Being over seas I didn't have that luxury of coming home when I needed to and I think that helped me realize that I can also be away from those I love the most and be okay. That might also sound silly, but it is a major realization for me.

I still find it hard to believe sometimes that this chapter of my life has come and gone already, but I know that it was time to move to the next chapter and bring what I've learned to the rest of the chapters to come. Thank you for coming along with me and following my journey! I can't wait to see what happens next! :)

Love y'all always!

xoxo

Time is almost up...

So I realize it's been awhile since I last posted anything, and the reason for that is that I've been putting off writing another post since so much has happened in the last month and I don't even know where to begin. I guess the best place would be Mallorca...

On April 14th I headed to the beautiful Island of Mallorca, which is part of Spain, with a group of friends in my program here. It was an extremely early morning, but well worth the trip. I'm just going to summarize my trip because since it was a six day trip there are obviously a lot of details that would take forever to get into. We rented an apartment, which ended up being a really good idea because we were able to cook our meals and it was ideally located near the beach, so we were all very happy. My main goal for the vacation was just to relax and spend as much time on the beach as possible, but of course not everyone was up for that, so we ended up renting mopeds for three days and taking small days trips. Now that sounds like a good idea, but of course there was drama and my day trips turned into one day trip and then a long trek back to the apartment, but I didn't let it ruin my vacation. All in all is was an incredible trip and the island was absolutely beautiful! I was sad to leave, but at the same time excited to head to England for the second half of my Semana Santa (or Spring Break if you would like).

So, the same day that I arrived back in Barcelona, I left for England, which I discovered was a bad idea, but regardless I arrived in London where my friend Jo met me and drove me to Winchester, which has become another home to me! The six days I spent in England were absolutely AMAZING! It was so nice to spend time with people I consider (especially after this trip) to be family. I didn't have to worry about seeing everything there was to see, or making a bunch of side trips. All I had to do was relax and spend time with friends who I hadn't seen in awhile. I was lucky enough to spend Easter with the Burridges and really felt like I was part of the family, which I haven't had that feeling since leaving home in January. I was very sad to leave, but knew I only had a little over two weeks before I would be heading back to Texas, so I was able to motivate myself to finish up in Barcelona.

And that leads me back to Barcelona where I have just four days left. It's hard to believe that my time here is almost over. I can still remember the very first day when I arrived. How scared I was, how sick I was :(, and just how nervous I was about starting this amazing adventure, and here I am now about to head home having experienced so many incredible things! I was so sure that I wouldn't make it past the second week, but I did! It's literally unbelievable! Not only have I learned so many thing about the places I've been and the people I've spent the last four months with, but I've learned so much about myself and I can definitely say I've grown because of this experience. Sure there are still things that I need to discover, and there were definitely times during my trip where things didn't go the way I had hoped, but I think each one of those things has really taught me something about myself and what I want out of life.

I'm sorry that this post is so short and lacking detail, but I promise that once I'm back home I will share all the stories of these last four months with y'all and I won't leave out any details!

Love y'all!

XOXO

A little luck of the Irish

My latest adventure had me traveling to Dublin, Ireland, the farthest of my travels thus far. When my roommate and I had first decided on this trip I was ecstatic because for one who doesn't want to go to Ireland and two who can resist those accents :) Unfortunately though, as the trip approached I noticed that my immune system was not at it's best and that I was feeling more and more under the weather. But of course I didn't let that stop me because I knew that this was an opportunity I wouldn't get back for quite awhile, if ever, so I sucked it up and we headed to the airport Thursday afternoon excited to see what the weekend was going to bring.

Our trip took off to a rocky start when we received news that our flight, which was scheduled to leave Barcelona at 3:45, would not be taking off until 9:45 that evening. So we spent a good 7 hours sitting in the airport trying to occupy ourselves while we waited to see if the plane would actually take off at 9:45 or if it would be delayed even later. Thankfully, the plane did arrive around 9:45 and we were up in the air by 10:30. Once we landed (at around midnight) we took a taxi straight to the hostel and went to bed because we were exhausted from all the waiting and traveling that had made up our day.

The next morning we woke up to a gorgeous day and set out to see some of the most popular sights in Dublin. These sights included Trinity College, which is one of the most prestigious and oldest Universities in the world, the Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral and after lunch the Guinness Factory/Storehouse. Every one of these sights was amazing and just walking through the streets of Dublin was exciting. My favorite spot of the day was St. Patrick's Cathedral because of the history and just the feel of the whole thing. I don't know what it is about Cathedrals, but when you walk inside them you just get this powerful feeling of awe and inspiration. I think it has to do with it's rich history and beautiful architecture, but there could be a lot of other reasons as well. Right outside of the Cathedral there was a beautiful park with flowers everywhere. Maybe it's because I'm from Texas and we don't have as many flowers just sprouting everywhere, but that has been one of my favorite parts of traveling around Europe is seeing all the amazing plant life and all the different colors coming out during the Spring.

My roommate was most excited to go to the Guinness Factory/Storehouse because she, unlike me, loves beer and had heard amazing things about this factory. I will admit the tour of the factory was pretty cool, but after taking one sip of the famous Guinness beer I knew it wasn't for me. I still had a good time though and enjoyed watching how excited my roommate got when she received her free pint of Guinness :)

That night we decided to try some authentic Irish food at a bar/restaurant that had live Irish music playing. The atmosphere of the Irish bars is extremely hard to describe, but everyone is just so happy and enjoying life that you can't help but be pulled into that energy and have a good time. My roommate and I both enjoyed a drink and some delicious food, and met some very interesting people who had nothing but good things to say about their homeland.

The next morning we woke up extremely early to head out on a tour of West Ireland, that included the Cliffs of Moher. We traveled from Dublin to Galway and then from there did a tour of the coast and a family farm. The family was extremely sweet and even gave us homemade apple pie when the tour of their farm was over. The tour was amazing because we got to go up to one of the mountain tops and from there all you could see were green fields and limestone mountains, something you would never be able to see in the United States. I think the best part of the day was visiting the Cliffs of Moher though. They were incredible and so beautiful and we thankfully went on a day where the weather was perfect and there wasn't fog to obscure out sight.

That night when we got home we were both very exhausted, but since it was our last night in Ireland we decided to go out and experience the nightlife one more time. I can say this for sure, the Irish sure know how to party haha! We met quite a few crazy people that night. I didn't stay out as long as I wished I could have because I was still feeling sick, but from the stories my roommate told me in the morning, they all had a very good time out.

On our last day in Ireland, my roommate and I walked around the city a little more and bought a few souvenirs and gifts for loved ones and then just relaxed until our flight, which thankfully took off at the correct time.

It's hard to believe that in about a month I will be back in Texas and back to my real life. This experience has been amazing so far and I have made lifetime memories that I will never forget! As excited as I am to come home, I will miss it here a lot! I still have a couple more adventures though before I leave, so I better enjoy them!

Love y'all!

xoxo

It was legen... wait for it... DARY!

Okay so first I feel that it is important to explain why I picked the title that you see above. The story behind this post's title comes from an expression that two new friends used when they met us, and somehow that became the saying for my latest adventure.

My latest adventure took place in Lisboa, Portugal. Now I have to admit that when my roommate Chase said we were booking a trip to Lisboa I wasn't exactly thrilled, mainly because I knew nothing about Portugal or what there was to do there, but after my trip I can honestly say that it is probably one of the greatest places I have been since arriving in Europe. The atmosphere is just so different in Lisboa compared to the rest of the cities I have visited in Europe. For one it is so much more relaxed and laid back. People are extremely friendly and the city is beautiful in a completely different way than you would describe other beautiful cities.

So let me begin to explain my adventures in Portugal...

This trip it was only me and my roommate Chase because we were the only two who really wanted to get out of Barcelona and explore a little more of Europe. We left on Thursday evening and arrived in Lisboa a little after 10:30 p.m. Our first adventure for the evening was figuring out how to get to the hostel that we would be spending the next four nights in. We decided to take a taxi and that was definitely our first mistake. The taxi driver literally didn't say a word to us and drove like a crazed lunatic (Chase and I seriously thought we might die during the drive), but somehow we made it to the hostel (after the taxi driver had dropped us off about 6 blocks away from where the hostel was actually located). I had never stayed at a hostel up to this point and I can tell you I was more than a little nervous (mainly because the only image of a hostel I had was from the movie Hostel in which the guests are slaughtered), but I soon came to discover that hostels are actually quite nice and the people that stay in them and run them are also extremely nice. The rest of our first night was uneventful, mainly because we were both exhausted, all we did was get something to eat and then headed off to bed.

Friday morning we woke up and it was an absolutely gorgeous day full sunshine and heat :) so we headed to the beach to get a little bit of sun, which we had been missing for quite some time. We took a train to a small village called Causcais and discovered that the beach part of the city was actually only two small sections of beach surrounded mainly by ports and other areas for boats. We weren't picky though and found a great spot to lay out and got a nice base tan for our trip to Mallorca in two weeks. Now I had assumed the ocean would be pretty warm since the ocean was extremely nice when we had gone to Cadiz two weeks earlier, but I was VERY wrong. It was freezing and after being in it for only a few minutes I could no longer feel my toes haha, so we didn't spend much time in the water on this vacation. After we arrived back at our hostel we decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner since we were both craving a little American style food. All I have to say is that even though the food was fantastic and the drinks were delicious it was extremely expensive and after our meal there we had to be very stingy on the rest of our meals.

Me at the beach :)

Chase and I enjoying the sun.

My yummy margarita :)

Saturday we decided to take a day trip to a small town near Lisboa called Sintra where we were told there was an amazing view of the city from a castle at the top of the mountain. So since the weather had been so amazing the day before Chase and I assumed it would be just as nice that day, so we wore shorts, t-shirts and our tennis shoes... boy did we wear the wrong outfit. As soon as we got off the train we discovered that the weather in Sintra was actually much cooler than in Lisboa and it was starting to drizzle. So first thing first we scoured the touristy shops in search of a sweatshirt or at least a long sleeve shirt to help keep us just a tad bit warm, and we eventually we did find some long sleeved shirts and of course they were 20 euros, but in for the sake of being warm it was worth it! It was also funny/cute because we got matching shirts that really pinpointed us as tourists haha! The hike was incredible and lots of fun, even though it did start raining halfway up the mountain. The castle was amazing and even though the view from the top was obscured because of the fog and clouds it was still an incredible feeling to be there and to see the view. The walk back down the mountain was an adventure as well since the rocks were so slippery from the rain, so we had to take our time going down, but on the way down we stopped to carve our initials into a tree that had a bunch of other initials in it haha.

Chase and I in our matching touristy shirts haha.

The mountain that we hiked up!

View from the top of the mountain :)

C and C for Caitlyn and Chase :)

When we got back to the hostel that afternoon we discovered that we now had two other roommates and from the smell of the room they were boys and we were right. They were both from Germany and both named Tobias, what are the chances of that haha. They were also very sweet and extremely funny! That night we made dinner in the hostel's common kitchen and just chilled with other people staying in the hostel. It's amazing how many people you meet staying in a hostel and from all over the world! It was definitely a good decision to stay at the hostel and I would recommend that hostel to anyone thinking of visiting Lisboa, Portugal.

Chase and I enjoying our dinner :)

Roomies :)

The next day we were off to a late start since we had stayed up late the night before, but we managed to grab breakfast before it was over and decided to head out and see a little bit of Lisboa. It was another chilly day and of course we hadn't planned on that weather so we were very unprepared. We ended up at a little cafe that sat in a courtyard/garden area overlooking the city and had a cup of coffee while we snuggled in blankets (offered to us by the cafe since it was outside) and just enjoyed the view and the peacefulness of the city. After a good hour and a half we made our way through the city and up to the Lisboa castle to see another amazing view of the entire city. This time though the view wasn't obscured by clouds and fog, so we got some amazing pictures thanks to the beautiful blue sky and fluffy clouds! One other awesome thing about the castle was that there were cats everywhere and they were all friendly, so I was able to get a little kitty time, which I have definitely been missing in Barcelona!

Having a coffee at a little cafe!

Chase and I enjoying the view

View from the Lisboa castle :)

Lots of kitties :)

Even though I'm making a face, I love this picture because of the clouds :)

After our castle walk we decided to head back to the hostel and make dinner with our two new friends Tobias. We made pizzas and ended up walking around the streets and wandered into a bar that seemed almost vacant, but they were playing good music and we just wanted to have a drink and dance. We made fast friends with the DJ and he started playing all the music we could ever want and soon people were pouring in and by the time the bar closed it was packed to capacity! Overall a great night!

The next morning, which was also our last, we went on one last adventure with our friends Tobias and Tobias to an elevator that was created by the same man that built the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Needless to say it was much less impressive and didn't offer a very good view of the city, but we had fun hanging out with our new friends and just laughing!

On top of the Elevator!

Chase and I with our new friends :)

Yay for new friends!!!

Chase and I were sad to head back to Barcelona, but we knew we needed to get back and that we still had many other adventures before our trip comes to an end, including our trip to Dublin this weekend :) Overall our trip to Portugal was a success and we made new friends and experienced many new things!

Love y'all

xoxo

Paris con mi padre :)

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to get to spend a long weekend in Paris, but what made it even better was getting to spend it with my father. Yes, he flew all the way to Paris to spend the weekend with me :) I know I have the world's best father!

I have definitely been homesick since being here and getting to see a familiar face was amazing! We spent the weekend doing as much as we could and seeing as much as we could, but I learned quickly that Paris is a big city and there is no way you can see everything in four days, but we did our best and I think we covered quite a bit of territory!

Once we had both arrived in Paris on Thursday and checked into our hotel, our first destination was the Eiffel Tower. Now I have obviously seen multiple pictures of the Eiffel Tower, but those couldn't even begin to show the beauty of this structure. For one it is absolutely HUGE and just breathtaking! I couldn't believe I was standing under the actual Eiffel Tower in Paris when I was there and every time we passed by it I felt the same way.

Me and my daddy in front of the Eiffel Tower :)

After seeing the Eiffel Tower we headed to the river to take a boat tour, which gave us a glimpse of the major sights to see and a view of the different bridges that connect the two sides of Paris, all of which have a story behind them. After the boat tour we headed back to the hotel to rest a little because my dad had had an extremely long flight and I had been up since 3 that morning so we were both just a tad tired. That evening we headed out to dinner and then walked down to see the Eiffel Tower again, but all lit up and it was of course incredible! We decided to call it an early night, so we walked around for a bit more than headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we decided to go see the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre, so we headed out (an extremely long walk from our hotel). On the way we found a very cute cafe/pastry/restaurant where I was able to get a cup of coffee since I've found that I don't function well without it these days haha, and from there we walked through the gardens of the Louvre and then up to the Louvre itself.

Enjoying a cup of coffee in a cute mug!

Now the Louvre used to be the royal palace and it is HUGE! It's hard to believe that people actually lived in a building that could easily house most students at my university in Texas, but the most interesting part about the Louvre is that the majority of it is underground. There are shops and even a Starbucks under ground, which is insane to me. When my dad and I got to the main entrance of the Louvre the line was ridiculously long so we decided to come back in the morning so that we would be some of the first people in and wouldn't have to wait, so we took some pictures of the outside and then headed to Notre Dame, which was on my list of things to see in Paris.

My dad and I in front of the Louvre

Notre Dame is another beautiful structure in Paris with it's big, colorful stained glass windows and gothic style architecture. You always hear about the gargoyles, but it's really neat to see them up and close. We were going to take a tour of the towers, but once again the lines were ridiculously long and we decided that if we had time before our trip was over we would try to get up there, but that for now we wanted to continue walking around and seeing the city. For the rest of the day we walked around and visited the American Church with it's Tiffany stained glass windows, the Eiffel Tower once again and some beautiful gardens.

The back of the Notre Dame

The Tiffany stained glass windows in the American Church

That evening my dad and I walked down to the Arc de Triomphe at the entrance of the famous Champs Elysees. The Arc was beautiful and walking down the Champs Elysees at night is so pretty with all the lights and the buzz of all the restaurants and people. We ended up eating at a small pizzeria near our hotel that night though because everything was extremely expensive along the Champs Elysees, but it was delicious and very filling :)

A cool building along the Champs Elysees

The next morning we woke up early, grabbed a Starbucks' coffee (yes of course I found a Starbucks in Paris haha), and headed back to the Louvre. When we arrived there wasn't a line so we were able to walk right in and because I'm a student I got free admission which is always a good thing! I think we spent over three hours in the Louvre and even with that much time we didn't see everything by any means, but we were definitely museumed out by that time. It was an amazing museum though and seeing the REAL Mona Lisa was incredible. I had to laugh though when I saw it because it is a lot smaller than you expect it to be and it's behind a lot of glass so taking pictures of it is difficult haha, but I'm glad I can say "yes i've seen the actually Mona Lisa" :) We also saw many other paintings, sculptures and artifacts from all over the world.

After the Louvre, we headed out once again to explore and came upon a bridge with locks all over the gates of the bridge and I thought it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. There were so many locks, each one different and each one saying something, whether it be names, a message or just a picture and I knew I had to add to that. I happened to have a small lock that I had used to lock my suitcase that I had checked onto the plane, so I decided to write a little something on it and add it to the thousands of others on the bridge.

A heart shaped lock on the bridge

Me holding our addition to the locks :)

A, B, C and D for my family :)

That night we ate at a really cute little pasta restaurant where the owner was one of the nicest people we had met since being in Paris and had a nice time talking with him and eating delicious pasta. After dinner we headed to the Eiffel Tower once again to take a trip up to the top and see the city of Paris. When we got to the very top of the tower I couldn't believe how high we were, but the view was breathtaking! Unfortunately it was a little rainy so the pictures we took didn't turn out very well, but you'll just have to take it from me that it was amazing :)

My daddy and I at the top of the Eiffel Tower :)

On our last day in Paris, we decided to take it easy, so we walked down the side of the river and went to see the small Statue of Liberty that is on an island in the middle of the river. I thought it was interesting how it is facing in the direction of where the real Statue of Liberty is in New York. We took quite a few photos and walked around the city a little bit more before heading back to the hotel for lunch. After stopping at a few chocolate stores to get gifts for my mom and sister we headed to dinner at a nice little restaurant where we enjoyed a glass of wine and a delicious salad. After dinner I took my dad to a gelato shop where they serve these amazing waffles with chocolate and powered sugar (an extremely delicious desert here in Europe) and he loved it, which I had no doubt he would haha :) We then headed back to the hotel to pack since we both had early flights home in the morning.

I was sad to say bye to my dad on Monday morning, but in just six weeks I will be arriving back in San Antonio and the rest of my time here is going to fly by! I had an amazing time this weekend and I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend it with! I do wish that my mom and sister could have come too, but at least I got to see a familiar face for a weekend! Thank you daddy for coming to see me and exploring Paris with me! I love you!

Love y'all!

xoxo